MlMoles, VVloles, and Shrews, Oh my! Eastern Mole Scalopus aquaticus Eastern Mole

• 4 ½ to 7 inches long • Up to 5 ounces • Insectivora: Eats insects and invertebrates; not plants • Solitary • 2 to 5 young once a year •Diggps up to 150 ft. per da y. Visible tunnels likely feeding tunnels Eastern Mole

• Control Measures • Toxicants and fumigants • Food Source Removal • Barriers • “Kill Traps” – use caution • Pit trap Eastern Mole

• PIT TRAP • Find an active runway • Uncover enough to insert a #10 size can flush with tunnel floor • Fill and pack around can • Plug tunnel on both sides of can Eastern Mole

• Cover the pit with a board • If no mole within 1 or 2 days, relocate trap Eastern Mole

• Alternative: Live and let Live

•Why? Eastern Mole

• “Moles are important predators of insect larvae and other invertebrates; they can profoundly impact the communities of their prey. They also act to aerate and turn soil where they live through their extensive tunneling activities” – Gorog A. 1999. “Scal opus Aqua ticus, Animal Diversity Web Pine Vole Pitymys pinetorum Pine Vole

• Less than 2 ounces • 3 to 4 inches • Fossorial • Rodentia • Herbivore • Prolific • Destructive Vole Salad Bar

Pine Vole

• Damage Control • Eliminate Ground Cover • Soil Tillage • Plant Selection • Chemicals ? • Exclusion Hardware Cloth Barrier Hardware Cloth Barrier Hardware Cloth Barrier Pine Vole

• Damage Control • Traps Vole Trap

• Locate the Tunnel Vole Trap

• Excavate • Bait the Trap • Lay flush with tunnel bottom and at right angles to the tunnel line, • or-- Vole Trap

• Just lay trap on the surface Vole Trap

• Cover and Weight • And Wait Pine Vole

• Damage Control • Predation Vole Predators

Ferocious Predator In His Lair Least Shrew Cryptotis parva Least Shrew

• 2 ½ to 4 inches • Less than ¼ ounce • Insectivora • Same diet as mole • Some seeds and fruit • Same predators • Slightly venomous • Harmless to garden Moles, Voles, and Shrews, Oh my!

THE END !!